Success Stories

Great Expectations

Posted on May 15, 2015

Asein Ta believes education is vital. He also believes in the importance of giving back. Because of that, he not only wants to become an elementary school teacher, he wants to teach English as a Second Language (ESL).

Asein was born in a rural area of Myanmar (Burma), and after losing his parents, he moved to Thailand, where he lived in refugee camps for more than four years. When the opportunity arose to move to another country, Asein asked to be taken to the United States. In 2008, he came to Virginia and was placed in the foster care system.

He first learned about John Tyler Community College while taking dual enrollment courses in high school. When he found out about Tyler’s Great Expectations program, which offers support and guidance to foster youth who want to get a college education, Asein says he knew the College would be a good fit for him.

Asein says he feels like he’s part of a family at John Tyler. He loves the College’s diversity, and he believes Tyler is helping students make better lives for themselves.

“Graduating from John Tyler gives me the confidence to continue my education at a four-year university,” says Asein. He will graduate from Tyler in May 2015. After graduation, Asein will transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University to work on a bachelor’s and then master’s degree.